Awesome Sampling

Just about anything can make a sound if you hit, rub, or touch it just right. Songs by Spencer recorded a bunch of random objects around his house, loaded them into a sampler, and layered them together to perform an original song about overcoming his insecurities.

While it’s obvious that Daft Punk’s music relies on sampling, some other songs on David Bennett’s list are surprising music recyclers. Songs like Gotye’s Somebody I Used to Know and Coldplay’s Talk feature samples or re-recorded musical passages. We also suggest checking out Tracklib’s Sample Breakdowns series.

Learn about circuits, soldering, and writing code with this duo of CircuitMess electronic music makers. The Synthia is a digital beat maker and sampler, while the Jay-D is a miniature DJ mixer with audio effects, built-in speakers, and a sweet LED light show. Grab the bundle for a special price in The Awesomer Shop.

Amen, Brother is an obscure B-side from a 1969 record by The Winstons, but it’s also the source for a six-second, 4-bar drum and bass sample which has found its way into literally thousands of hip hop, techno, dance, and pop songs. It’s even in the Futurama theme.

Sampling has been a common practice in music production since the 1970s. In this video from musician and vlogger Roomie, he checks out some of the more creative reuses of old music in hit songs by Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Drake, Britney Spears and more. For more sampled sources, head down the rabbit hole at WhoSampled.

Eight Minutes Upside Down has created a fantastic series of videos which explore the many tracks that sampled sounds from other musicians. In this episode, you’ll hear how electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk influenced artists from Beck to Sir Mix-a-Lot to The Chemical Brothers to Miley Cyrus.

One of the most satisfying sounds on earth is that noise a cold can of beer makes when you pop it open. Musician Koji Kobura agrees, and decided to sample a bunch of sounds he could make with a beer can, ultimately turning them into a short EDM track.

Rather than using traditional instruments, performers Daniel Gourski and DJ Jonas Appel headed to an abandoned industrial compound, and sampled sounds of the equipment to create every sound you hear. The good old metal drum seems to be the most versatile.

Between WhoSampled and Everything Is a Remix, we know that there’s not a ton of 100% originality in music production. But we had no idea that Hall and Oates Rich Girl appeared in so many hit songs. Then again, this is a video from The Onion, so the joke’s on us.

DJ and Producer Chris Read of the awesome website WhoSampled dropped by London’s Point Blank Music School to provide an in-depth workshop on the origins of sampling in hip-hop music, modern sound layering, and how music has been derivative for hundreds of years.

Besides Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, one thing that’s been consistent in Gorillaz’ ever-changing 16+ year run is the use of samples. Kirima Nagi put together this video which catalogs some of the many sound bites which have made their way into the group’s tracks.

The fine folks at Holy Kaw! dusted off this 2014 TED Talk with DJ, musician, and producer Mark Ronson, as he uses samples of previous TED Talks to explain how the ability to record, tune, tweak and modify existing sounds transformed the way music is made.